A Trade
by Night Reign
Summary: We used to play together all the time, but then she just suddenly left, now she doesn't remember me at all. But she says she can help, should i make the deal or not? naruhina, slight sasusaku. Short chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_**A TRADE**_

Staring across the room, Naruto was deeply in thought. She was in his class again, and as always, she showed no notice of him.

It was always like this, he was always watching her, while she never even noticed him. The girl of his dreams, the one girl that he would do anything for, in a heartbeat. Yet still, she wouldn't ever notice him or anything that he did.

"Yo, Naruto!" Sasuke came up to his side, and resting his arm atop Naruto's head. Sasuke always said that there was nothing in it, so the least it could be was an armrest.

Though Naruto was still paying all of his attention to her. "Hello? Earth to Naruto!" Sasuke said, as he waved his hand in front of his face. Naruto raised his hand, and batted away Sasuke's waving hand, "not now Sasuke." He said, in a solemn tone, Sasuke sighed. He knew that this was about Hinata, it always was.

"Naruto! She doesn't know anything about you right?" Naruto merely nodded. "Okay and you have plenty of girls after, you, so you know you've got the looks, and the personality, so just go and get her!" Naruto wasn't really listening to anything he was saying. This was his normal pep talk that he gave him and he knew it word for word, but it wasn't that easy.

He looked over again to Hinata, and saw her, deeply involved with a conversation with some of her best girlfriends. And memories came up. Memories of him, when he was only a child. Memories of him and Hinata playing together.

_Naruto and Hinata were playing in the sand box, with Sasuke and Sakura. They were just tossing sand in the air, and running into it, trying to see who could catch the most sand._

"_Hey! Let's play house!" Sakura said, as she grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Me and Sasuke will be married," Sasuke tried to pull away, but Sakura had a strong grip when it came to holding Sasuke. "Naruto, you can be married to Hinata."_

_When Naruto looked over to Hinata, her face was slightly red, "you okay Hinata?" Naruto asked "you look like your sick!" He laid his hand on her forehead, the way his mom did when he was sick, "N-no, I-I'm –f-f-fine!"_

_Naruto shrugged and took her by the had, and led her to the little playhouse that was in the park, and they played as a married couple._

_The two of them played for hours, until it started to get dark. Hinata's father had called her, saying that it was time for her to go, "I have to go Naruto," she said, "I had a lot of fun." And to Naruto's surprise, she gave Naruto a kiss._

_When Naruto looked at her, her face was red again. Hinata turned on her heels and ran off to meet her father. _

_Naruto felt his lips, where Hinata had kissed him. He had never kissed anyone before, other than his mother. And he had only seen grownups kiss before, so he had no idea how to react._

_Naruto's attention was pulled back to him, when Sasuke had came up behind him, asking him to hide him from Sakura. Though Sasuke had no idea that Sakura had left a good while ago._

_The next day when Naruto and Sasuke had went to the park to play with Hinata and Sakura. They'd found Sakura, sitting on a tree branch in the park, with a sad look in her eyes. When Sasuke asked why she was sad, and where Hinata was, all Sakura said was, "Hinata's gone." Naruto was heartbroken._

_How could she just leave without telling them?_

Hinata had left their town, though he never found out where, or why. Then, it was only a few months ago that she suddenly showed up.

Apparently she had been overseas for the past 12 years, and came back to go to high school. Yet, when Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura tried to introduce themselves to her, she didn't remember them, she had no memory of any of them.

Naruto couldn't believe it, she didn't remember anything that had happened between them, not the fun times they had, the sad times, or even the kiss they shared.

She knew nothing about them, and had no way of knowing why. "Naruto," Sasuke said, "I think its time you forgot about her. She doesn't remember you, and there's nothing any of us can do about that." Naruto knew he was right, that there was no way of fixing this, but he didn't just want to give up on Hinata.

When class was over, Naruto decided to skip his next class, and headed to the library. For weeks he had been trying to find out everything he could on amnesia, though nothing useful ever came up. Every book on amnesia always said the said thing, "**amnesia is unpredictable and can vary in time before the affected may return to normality**".

Naruto had no idea how long it could last then, Hinata could remember him tomorrow or in fifty years, but there was no way to tell.

Though Naruto wasn't going to let this beat him. He decided to check deeper into the library, hoping to find something that could help, a remedy or some way to return Hinata to normal.

He looked deeper and deeper in the library. Though it was tough to tell which book could help. All the medical books in the library had the same thing written in them.

After thirty minutes of searching, Naruto was getting sick of trying to find the book, he knew it was hopeless, though he didn't want to admit it. But maybe he should, maybe it was time to quit and forget about Hinata.

It was at that moment that one of the loose books atop the shelves fell over the edge and onto Naruto's head, "ow!" he cried, the book was huge, Naruto leaned over to pick up the book , though it was heavy too, making it not as easy for Naruto to pick up.

Once he had the book at eye level, Naruto made an attempt to read the book, but it was no good, the book's title was in another language. '_Whatever, just a piece of junk_,' Naruto thought as he flipped the book open, what he saw though made him think otherwise.

Scrawled throughout the book were names, names of people he had never even heard of. This book must have been old, because the first signature in the book was faded and worn out, the book had to be older than the school itself.

Naruto flipped through the book, but the pages were blank. '_Hah. Just as I thought, useless_' Naruto said as he slammed the book shut. At that moment, the bell for his next class had just rung, '_shit! I'm late!_' Naruto grabbed the books that he dropped and took off out of the library.

As the day ended Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked home together. The three of them lived right beside each other. "So Naruto, any luck with the research?" Sakura asked, she was being sincere, since she knew how much it meant to him to help Hinata. Naruto shook his head, "Each book I've read tells me the same thing, that its unpredictable and the time varies.

"Well, if you want my advice, I think you should just forget about it." Sasuke said. That comment earned a punch to the arm from Sakura. While Sasuke was rubbing his new bruise, Sakura spoke, "don't worry Naruto, I'm sure Hinata will remember, just give it some time." Sakura was always so sweet and kind, Naruto had no idea how she ended up with Sasuke, who was, for lack of a better word, and ass.

"I know Sakura, but I want to do anything I can to help her." Naruto said.

When he got home the house was empty. Naruto walked around the house, trying to find some evidence of his parents being there at all that day, though he came up empty.

Naruto walked into the kitchen, and found the note he had been looking for: "_Naruto, your father and I were called away for business for the week, we'll be back this Sunday, be sure not to destroy the house, and be sure to feed Kyuubi. Love Mom_"

'_Figures_', Naruto thought, he wasn't the least surprised that they were gone. What would have surprised him would have been if they were home, and planned to stay from more than one night.

Naruto figured the only thing to do now was to open the books he got from the library and see if he could find anything there that could help.

Naruto went over to the dining room table and turned out his bag, pouring each book out onto the table.

Naruto shifted the books around the table, placing each book on a certain part of the table. Immediately though, one book caught his eye was the worn leather bound book that he had seen that afternoon. "Huh? I must have picked it up while I rushed out of the library." Naruto shrugged and tossed it out of the way, it landed on the floor in the corner of the room, "now, time to get to work."

Naruto delve into the books, ignoring everything around him, he didn't bother to eat, watch TV, and he just kept at it. It wasn't until, he felt something tug at the leg of his pants. Naruto looked down and saw a orange little fox biting at his pant leg.

The little fox looked up at naruto and began to whimper, and naruto was struck with realization, "oh! I'm sorry Kyuubi!" naruto said as he leaned down and picked up his pet, "I completely forgot to feed you didn't I, girl?" naruto held kyuubi to his chest and walked into his kitchen.

Once he had given kyuubi a piece of meat to gnaw at naruto realized how late it was. "man, I can't believe its already 11:55." Naruto said in disbelief, he leaned down to kyuubi and began to stroke her neck, earning a purr from the fox.

"I don't know kyuubi, I think maybe I should give up. I haven't found anything to help, and everyday hinata might be getting closer and closer to never remembering." Naruto sighed, in defeat, as he stood upright. "I just don't know anymore."

As kyuubi continued to eat, her ears began to twitch, and lifted her head out of the bowl. "what's the matter girl, something wrong? It's Chicken liver, your favorite, isn't it?" kyuubi looked up at naruto, and then bound out of the room. "kyuubi!" naruto called.

He ran after the baby fox, and found her waiting in the dining room, in the corner of the room, with her paws on the leather book that he had tossed aside earlier.

"what is it girl? You want to see what's in it?" naruto leaned down and picked up the book, kyuubi though, began to jump up on naruto, trying to get back the book. "sorry girl, but this book is empty. Naruto walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch, as kyuubi jumped on and took a seat on his lap.

Naruto saw kyuubi nudge at the book, "alright girl, alright, but you're gonna be disa…" naruto didn't even get to finish saying "disappointed", once he opened the book, he was shocked to see the blank pages from that afternoon were now filled with words.


	2. Chapter 2

_A TRADE_

_CHAPTER 2_

_DO WE HAVE A DEAL?_

The book had been filled with words, and not just Japanese. The book was filled with words in English, Spanish, German, even Latin.

"What the hell?" naruto asked in a low whisper. Kyuubi had placed her little paws on the page of the book and began to yelp. Though naruto was too distracted to realize this.

Naruto's eyes scanned the book quickly, though the only words he was able to read in his panicked state were "midnight" and "deal".

Naruto closed the book, a moment later, he opened it once again. Still, the words were there.

Once again he closed the book, then a moment later he opened. This time though, the book was blank once again. Naruto was horrorstruck as he picked up the book and threw it across the room.

Naruto shook his head, and calmed himself down. He stood up off the couch and slowly walked over to the book, and once again picked it up. Naruto took a deep breath and opened the book quickly.

As he had hoped, the pages were blank.

Naruto walked over to the dining room table once more, and placed the book down, "okay naruto. What just happened?" he asked no one, "well, I just opened a supposedly blank book and saw that if was filled with words in almost a dozen different languages." He answered his own question, "then a moment later, the book went blank once again." Naruto shook his head, "argh! This is crazy! There's no way that could happen!"

Naruto looked over to the clock in the kitchen and saw that it was 12:02. "Well, maybe I should go lie down. Come on kyuubi." naruto scooped up the baby fox, and strolled off to his room.

Naruto spread himself out on his bed, kyuubi was in her small pet bed, curled happily into a ball, already drifting into sleep.

Naruto kept turning over thoughts of what he could do to help Hinata, and what he would do about that book. He figured that nothing could help Hinata, other than time, and that the book would just have to be returned to the library tomorrow. Other than that, there was nothing he could do about either of his troubles.

Naruto turned over and looked at Kyuubi, "what do you think girl?" but all naruto got back in response was a sleeping grunt, telling naruto to shut up and leave her alone. Naruto chuckled and rolled over onto his back. "Yeah, maybe I should just back off of it. After tomorrow one of those problems will be solved.

"What do you mean you won't take it back?" naruto cried. He was facing one of the library assistant Shikamaru, he sighed in frustration, "god you're troublesome, naruto. Look, I can't take this book back, because it's not in the system!" shikamaru was losing his patience, and that was a huge accomplishment, to piss of the calmest person in all of konoha.

"What the hell does that mean?!" naruto cried. Shikamaru's brow twitched in aggravation. "Alright naruto." He said calmly. "Let me explain this as clearly as I can." Naruto nodded in agreement, "that would help," "okay, now listen very closely. I can't take this book, because it is not in the sys~tem" shikamaru stressed on that, though naruto still looked confused.

"It means, that that book, doesn't belong to the library." Naruto finally understood, "Oh~! Well then, what do I do with the book?" at this moment, shikamaru began to sort and shuffle papers around, hoping that naruto would take a hint, "don't know, don't care," he said as he turned away and began helping another student.

Naruto figured that shikamaru would be no help at all, and decided that he would have to just hold onto the book.

The day was already half gone, and naruto was only focused on hinata, like any other day.

She was chatting with a crowd of other girls, and not even bothering to look at him. Though why would she, she didn't even know him.

Though after a while, his mind drifted back to the book that sat quietly in his bag. What was he to do with this strange book.

And yet, getting rid of it wasn't really what he wanted. Naruto badly wanted to know what the book was about, what the book meant. After all, one moment the book was filled with ancient signatures. The next, the book was filled with different languages, all saying something about midnight, and a deal.

It was only then, did naruto realize something he hadn't the night before. Midnight. That was the time that he opened the book and saw the letters. But after that, it went blank.

That only told him, that the book could be read at midnight only, though the part about the deal wasn't clear to him.

Naruto let this though float around for awhile. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

Naruto figured the best thing he could do was take the book with him, and look over it, in hopes of finding something that could help.

As the night rolled on, naruto once again delve into the books, with kyuubi running around the room, just trying to gain his attention.

Around 5:30 or so, there was a knock at the door. Naruto looked up from the book he was reading, '_who could that be?_

Naruto got up and went over to the door, just as it swung open. There in the doorway was sakura and sasuke.

Sasuke had a look that said that he didn't want to be here, but sakura had a huge grin plastered on her face. Clutched to her chest was a tub of microwavable popcorn, and some movie. "Hey naruto! Let's watch a movie," before naruto could even protest, sakura had already pushed her way in, with sasuke in tow.

Naruto looked over at sasuke as he had a terrified look in his eyes, and mouthed something to naruto, that looked like "save me". Naruto sighed and shook his head, '_there's no hope for either of us pal,_'

Sakura had taken a seat on the couch, and began barking orders, "sasuke, go put on the movie. Naruto, go make the popcorn and get the drinks," she said as she placed her hands behind her head and reclined into the couch.

"uh sakura?" naruto began, sakura turned her attention to him, with a sweet smile on her face, "yes naruto?" her attitude began to make naruto nervous, "um… well, I didn't expect you guys over, and I was just researching, so…" "Oh. Well, me and sasuke just thought you'd like some company, plus I thought you'd like this movie."

Naruto knew that was a lie, sakura knew that any movie that she liked wouldn't interest naruto. Besides that, sasuke would never give up a quiet evening with sakura and replace it with keeping him company.

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head, and set off with the tub of corn, to the kitchen.

Once he popped the popcorn, and served the drinks, naruto had taken a seat on the couch beside an anxious sakura, and an irritated sasuke.

The movie was, as naruto figured, some chick flick called "The Notebook". Naruto wasn't really into it, but he liked the storyline. He looked over to sakura, who was completely into the movie, and at some points she was mouthing the words to herself. Probably imagining her and sasuke as the main characters, while sasuke… well, sasuke was fast asleep, and drooling.

Once the movie was over, sakura turned over to naruto and asked, "Well? What did you think?" sakura seemed a little too excited about this movie, "um… it was… good?" naruto managed to say, though it was more of a question, so as not to offend sakura. "I know! Wasn't it?! I've seen that movie about twenty times, and I never get tired of it." she turned over to sasuke and pushed his arm and woke him. "see. I told you he would like it!" sasuke merely looked over at naruto, then dropped back to sleep.

"I thought you would like it, since you know the whole hinata thing…" sakura stopped herself, but she already brought it up. naruto had an upset look on his face now, and sakura knew that it was her fault. "I'm sorry naruto, I wasn't thinking, I…" before she finished, sasuke had woken, and placed an arm on hers, "sakura, we should get going," sasuke knew well not to bring up the subject of hinata around naruto. He knew that it was a sensitive subject.

After they had left naruto went back to the dining room table and reopened the book he had been reading before.

After another hour or so of reading, he felt Kyuubi tugging at his pants again. "oh sorry Kyuubi, I guess I forgot again."

Naruto stood and took her to get her dinner.

Naruto checked the time, and once again it was 11:55. Kyuubi was like clockwork if she wasn't fed.

He figured that it was late, and he should get some sleep.

Only then did a thought hit him.

Naruto ran back to the dining room, and sorted through the books, and there it was. The leather bound book.

Naruto opened the book, and the book was blank, all that was there were the signatures that he seen before.

He kept the book open and ran to his room and grabbed his camera. If he was going to see it again, he would get proof that it was real.

Once he got back, the clock read 11:59, only one minute to go.

Once the clock struck midnight, naruto got his camera ready and turned the page.

There it was words in the seemingly blank book, scrawled throughout the book, all in different languages. Immediately, naruto snapped a few pictures.

After he did, he closed the book and ran to his room and accessed his computer.

He connected the camera to his computer and ran a scan of the pictures.

Once the scan was done, and an enlarged copy of the picture was on screen, naruto read the Japanese part. The script was old, but he could make out most of the words.

And what he read, he couldn't believe. Written there in the book were instructions to grant a wish. Naruto laughed at that, as if.

Naruto went back to the dining room and looked over, and saw the book was open, and the words were still on the page.

Naruto looked over to the clock, and saw that it was 12:05, naruto figured the book would be clear by now, but it wasn't. naruto walked over to the book and turned the page.

Written on the page was some scrawled handwriting, and a signature. Naruto tried to read what it said, but it wasn't in any language he'd ever seen.

On the next page he saw the same thing. Writing and a signature, this one was in Japanese, and I said _I want to be the strongest swordsman in Japan_, though the signature was long faded away.

Naruto looked further into the book and saw many different signatures, and after a while, naruto realized that all these things written in the book were requests.

Naruto wondered, why anyone would write all these requests in a book.

After turning the pages for so long, naruto came to a blank page.

As he turned the page, the end of the paper gave him a cut, "Ow!" Naruto quickly brought his finger up to his lips, though it wasn't quick enough, as a drop of blood fell onto the page. "damn, I got blood on the…" naruto didn't finish his sentence.

He looked down at the page that his blood dripped onto, only to see it fade into the book. And in it's place, scrawled into red handwriting, words appeared.

Naruto jumped away from the table in horror.

His eyes wide in terror, as he looked over at the book, while he continued to stare, the lights in the kitchen began to flicker.

After a moment the lights stopped flickering, and naruto inched back over to the book. Written on the book was something that naruto couldn't believe, something that Naruto couldn't believe was there and he didn't even put it.

Written in the blood that dripped was _I wish Hinata could remember us being together_. It was Naruto's deepest wish, and the book had written it for him in his own blood.

"aw, how cute!" a voice called out from the corner of the room. Naruto turned, ready to fight off whoever it was that had gotten into his home.

There was no sign of anyone, when suddenly, naruto heard a light, airy giggle coming from beside him.

He turned to the side, and saw standing there, a small girl with pitch black hair, and deep red eyes. She was looking up at naruto with a huge happy grin on her face.

"so, is this really your wish?" naruto was caught off guard as the girl asked this question, "just say the word and it will be done. An easy wish like this, I can take care of it. No problem." The girl walked over to the book and looked down at the writing, her smile was beaming.

"well then," the girl hopped onto the table, letting her small legs fall, only inches above the ground, "what do you say? Do we have a deal?"


	3. Chapter 3

_A TRADE_

_CHAPTER 3_

_WHAT I WANT, AND WHAT IT COSTS_

Naruto looked on as the girl swung her legs back and forth with a smile, still plastered onto her face. "Hold it! Who the hell are you, and how did you get into my house?" Naruto had taken a step toward the girl, but before he could get close enough, the girl had already hopped off the table and was now in the living room.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm here for the request." She said, "As for who I am," the girl turned on her heels and looked happily at Naruto, "you can call me Akki!"

Naruto had no idea what this girl was talking about, or why she seemed so happy. "Okay, that really doesn't help. And what do you mean "the request"? That doesn't tell me anything!"

The girl rolled her eyes, and walked past Naruto and over to the table. The tiny girl hopped back onto the table, and lifted the leather book that must have weighed at least half of her weight, but she lifted it, and held it up with ease.

"This was in your blood, right?" Akki asked, Naruto responded by nodding stupidly, "and this is your deepest wish, right?" once again Naruto merely nodded. Akki hopped off the table with the book still in hand, "well then, I'm here to make this wish come true."

Naruto's eyes went wide, "what do you mean?" he asked, it was meant to come out louder, though it only escaped Naruto's lips as a whisper. Once again, Akki rolled her eyes, "I mean exactly what I said. I'm here to…" Akki looked down at the book that was still open, "make Hinata remember that you and her were together?" she looked up at Naruto with a questioning look, "What's that mean anyway?" she asked.

"Oh. Well, Hinata's this girl that I played with when we were younger, but she left all of a sudden 12 years ago. When she finally showed up again about a year ago, she had no memory of me, or any of her old friends." Once done with his explanation, Akki nodded in understanding, "I see, but that doesn't explain why." This confused Naruto, "if you wanted Hinata to remember you, you would have just tried to help her remember. So is this really why you want this wish," her smile suddenly became filled with mischief, "or do you want something else out of it?"

Naruto looked at her, still confused and unsure of what she meant, "I mean, you don't just want her to remember her friends. Your wish says to remember _us_. So this could mean you want her to remember something between you."

Naruto's face turned red, "uh-huh, that's what I thought." Akki walked back to the table and sat once again, "well either way, I could make it happen."

Her smile turned to happy once again, "tell me, what, would you be willing to give for her? Would you give up that which is precious to you?" what she said, in no way matched her look, though slowly it changed, her innocent smile faded to a smile that was filled with malice.

"Tell me, what you'd be willing to do for this girl. And I can make it happen." Naruto felt a chill up his spine, as Akki seemed to no longer stare at him, but through him.

Naruto made an attempt to play off his fear, letting out a chuckle to calm himself, "yeah, and you can do that? What are you, the devil?" though this little humor didn't amuse Akki. Instead her smile grew even wider, revealing more and more of her teeth, "you could say that. But not really, more like a devil in training." She said.

Akki once again hopped off the table and wandered toward Naruto, "so what do you say, little boy?" her voice sounded silky smooth as she came close to Naruto and placed one of her hands on his cheek, slowly running her fingers down his whisker marks, "do we have a deal?"

Naruto had no idea what to say, first he thought how this little girl could call him little boy, when he was at least two feet taller than him, not to mention, she must have been at least 14, with her petite size. He was at least 4 years older than her. Aside from that, he knew that this was a foolish conversation, then again, what else could he do?

After a moment, the only thing on his mind was what she wanted in exchange, so he voiced his question.

Akki clapped her hands together, and her smile was once again filled with that sign of innocence again, "an excellent question, boy" she said as she turned once more to the book behind her. Akki waved her hand over the cover of the book and immediately the book opened and the pages blew over as if a strong wind blew them.

After a moment, the book stopped and came to Naruto's page. The letters still reading his wish, "it's very simple Naruto, all you have to do is sign under you wish. Once you do that, it will be granted." Naruto looked at the book something didn't seem right though, there was no way that it could be that easy.

"I don't believe it, what's the real catch here?" he asked, and quickly Akki's smile faded, "alright boy, there is one more catch." Naruto waited to here what it was, he didn't want to sign anything until he knew what he needed to give in return. "I will grant your wish, no strings attached, no jokes, no tricks, and all you have to do is sign this book. This is basically a contract saying that you get your wish…" Akki's malicious smile appeared again, "… and in return, I get your soul."

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat and his blood run cold as ice. His soul, there was no way that this girl was serious, there was no way that she wanted him to actually give up his soul. But the more he looked over Akki's expression, the more he realized that she wasn't joking. She was dead serious about this.

Naruto tried to play off his fear, though this time it didn't work as well, as he began to stutter "y-yeah, r-r-right. My s-s-s-soul, th-that's funny." Though Akki, didn't change the look of seriousness on her face. She definitely meant what she said. The price for Hinata to be herself again was his soul.

"What do you say boy, you'll never get a chance like this again. After all, who else can bring her back to you? Can you confidently say that she'll be back to normal tomorrow, or the next day. A week from now? A month? A year? You have no way of knowing. With me helping, you'll have her back as soon as you agree."

Naruto couldn't believe this. This was just what he wanted, a chance to get Hinata back. But the cost, it seemed to risky.

"Alright, say I agree to this. What happens to me?" he asked. "Well, like any other person, you'd get your wish granted, but it's only for as long as you're alive. Once you die, you have to come with me." Akki seemed calm as she said this, as if it was no big deal to her.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Naruto asked, "Sure." Akki said in response. "How many souls have you taken?" for a moment Akki was taken by surprise, then her expression changed, it looked like she was thinking about it. "Well, I hadn't really kept count. But I'd say about 999 souls." She said

Naruto took a deep breath, and looked up at the ceiling. This had to be a dream, but even in his dreams, he couldn't have thought this up. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for this.

"Alright, suppose I did this, would Hinata remember everything about us?" Naruto was still skeptical about this. "She'll remember everything that happened between you two. Guaranteed." Akki didn't miss a beat in her response.

Naruto knew that this was a bad idea, but right now, this was all he had to go on that was a serious thing. There was no other way that he could think of that would definitely make things right.

Naruto bit his lower lip as he thought it over, after a minute, his lip began to bleed from the pressure.

"Well…" Naruto said, Akki's eyes seemed to light up at this, she knew that Naruto was close to considering, and he knew it as well.

Akki produced a pen from her hair and held it out for Naruto, "here you go, just sign on the page, and your wish is granted."

Naruto thought a bit more, but he came to the conclusion that this was all that he could do, that he had no other way to go about this.

Without thinking anymore, Naruto snatched the pen out of her hand and scrawled onto the page in a fine red ink his name, _Naruto Uzumaki_.

Akki's smile spread wide, to the point of looking rather painful. Akki held out her hand, "well then, we've struck a deal, _Naruto._" Naruto didn't know what else to do, except take her hand and shake.

Once he gripped her hand, Naruto's eyes suddenly began to heavy, his eyesight began to fail him and before he knew it, he had fallen over to the ground and drifted into sleep.

Naruto woke the next morning, he was tucked into his bed.

He sat up and looked around the room, and saw Kyuubi was as well, in her bed. "Boy Kyuubi, I had the weirdest dream," Naruto looked over at the clock and saw that it was already 6:05 AM "well, it's time to get up anyways." With that, Naruto pushed the blankets off of him, and swung his legs over and stood up.

After about half an hour, Naruto was finished getting dressed, in his usual school uniform, and hair gelled to its perfect spikes.

Naruto walked into the kitchen and got food for Kyuubi for during the day, when there was a knock on the door, '_oh god, now what? Probably Sakura and Sasuke,_' Naruto knew that Sakura would not be good company at the moment, she'd probably just want to talk on and on about the movie from the previous night. And Naruto didn't feel much like talking to anyone today.

Naruto walked over to the door, and opened it, he was about to tell Sakura and Sasuke to go on to school without him, but the person he saw outside his door wasn't Sakura. Not even close.


	4. Chapter 4

_A TRADE_

_CHAPTER 4_

_YOUR WISH, IS MY COMMAND_

Standing there, in the doorway, was the last person he'd expected to be there. "Good morning Naruto-kun," he heard in a light, happy voice.

Naruto just stood there looking at this girl, someone that he'd wanted to have there to greet him for so long. Hinata Hyuuga.

Naruto was at a loss for words, as Hinata stood there with a pleased smile on her face. It quickly dropped though as she saw that Naruto was so uncomfortable. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?" she asked, concern was noticeably found in her voice.

Hinata stepped up to Naruto, looking intently at his face, "you're awfully red, do you have a fever?" she asked, her concern was growing more and more. Hinata leaned into Naruto and stood onto the tip of his toes. She pressed her forehead to his, trying to feel his temperature.

"Oh! You're burning up! Are you okay?" Naruto jumped back after he realized how close that Hinata was to him. And in a rush he began to talk, "h-h-Hinata! W-w-what are you doing here?!" the stuttering in his voice was a clear sign of his shock and surprise.

Hinata looked at him, shocked, "you…you don't w-w-want me here?" she asked, stuttering throughout, as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes.

Naruto couldn't believe that he was making Hinata cry. The girl that he'd been trying to get to notice him for so long was now here for him, and he was making her cry! "No! I mean yes! I mean… I'm sorry. I want you here! But what are you doing here?" Naruto cried waving his arms all over the place, trying to calm Hinata down.

Hinata ceased crying, though tears were still clearly visible. She looked up at Naruto with a confused look. "What do you mean? I'm always here to walk with you to school." Naruto was confused, what did she mean always?

Naruto looked at Hinata, and suddenly didn't really care about why she was there anymore. Only that she was there.

Naruto picked up his things and began said, "Sorry, I guess I forgot. Let's get going." Hinata smiled as she saw Naruto was no longer acting strange. "Oh, wait! Are you sure you're okay? You seemed really warm." "Oh, no! I'm fine. I guess just the sight of you, made me blush, don't worry." Hinata seemed to turn red at Naruto's response. "Oh," she said, as she brought her hands up to her face, attempting to hide the spreading flush, "well, in that case, let's get going." She said, as she took hold of Naruto's hand and pulled him through the door.

Naruto and Hinata made it to school, and went there separate ways to their classes.

Once Naruto was in his psych class, he noticed Sakura in the corner of the room, and went over to take a seat. When he sat down, Sakura looked over at him, then turned her attention back to the window of the room.

Naruto figured that Sakura just wasn't in the mood to talk, but he needed to talk to someone about what had happened this morning. "Hey Sakura." Naruto said, Sakura turned to him with a questioning look, as if she didn't even know Naruto. "So get this. This morning, Hinata came over and walked with me to school as if it happened every-""Naruto… right?" Sakura asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her question, "um yeah… did you forget my name or something?" Sakura just stared at him, "yeah," she said as she picked up her bag and dug around for something, "well, that's what happens when you don't talk for about… what… 6 years?" she said.

Naruto was shocked, what did she mean? 6 years? Sakura took her hand out of her bag, holding a small, beat up picture. She held it out for Naruto to see, what he saw, shocked him. It was a picture of them, of him with Hinata clinging to him, and his arm around her. And beside them, was Sakura, with her arms, wrapped tightly around Sasuke's waist, with Sasuke just grinning at her.

Though what shocked him was, that the picture was of them at, at least 12 years old. Though that couldn't be, since Hinata had left when they were 6, and she clearly wasn't six in this picture.

Sakura looked at Naruto, she saw that he was in shock, "hey… you alright?" she asked, as his face was pale in horror.

"I-I-I'm fine" she said shakily, "but I think I'm gonna…" before he could finish, Kakashi walked in, and asked him to take a seat.

After about twenty minutes of lecture, Kakashi gave the class the rest of their time to socialize, while he read. Naruto stood up and went over to his desk and asked if he could go to the clinic to rest. Saying that he wasn't feeling well.

Kakashi figured it was okay, since Naruto never really caused trouble, he sent him off with his permission.

Naruto walked into the clinic, and took a seat on one of the small bed that was in the room.

Naruto lay back on the bed, resting his head on the stiff pillow on the bed. Naruto's eyes slowly drifted shut as he fell asleep.

Though he quickly awoke at the sound of clicking heels, it must have been Shizune, the school's nurse. Naruto sat up and to see Shizune, though she wasn't there to greet him.

Instead, standing there, in a nurse's outfit and knee-high socks was a face that he had almost forgotten about. "Ah Naruto! Good to see you!" said a small girl that he hadn't expected ever again to see. "And how are we enjoying our wish?" she asked, an innocent, playful smile was spread over her lips.

Naruto was at a loss for words, "Aw," she said, mockingly sympathetic, "don't worry, the nurse will make you feel better!" she said as she took out a tongue depressor and shoved into his gaping mouth. Naruto gagged for a moment, and pushed her away.

"You! What are you doing here?!" he cried. "You!" she said, "that's so rude. After all," she said as she turned away and walked toward the counter in the room, "I'm the one who made your wish come true! You should be groveling at my feet, thanking me!" she said, practically yelling. Akki's eyes started to water slightly.

Naruto jumped to his feet and moved over to her, "no! Please don't cry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I'm really… grateful for what you did," Naruto said, he placed his hand on Akki's shoulder. She'd begun to sob loudly, "I was just surprised, that's all."

"So…*sob*…your…*sob*…not…*sob*…mad?" she asked in between sobs, her face, still hidden in her hands. "Of course I'm not mad!" Naruto said.

Once he said that, Akki lifted her head out of her hands and resumed her earlier smile, "okay, so how are you liking your wish?" she asked. Naruto was shocked, he fell for her trick, he actually believed that she was crying. "What the hell?" Naruto cried, "What?" she said, mockingly, "don't you remember? I'm a devil."

Naruto's eye twitched slightly as he stared at Akki with hate in his eyes, but also, confusion. "You made my wish come true?" Naruto asked. Akki nodded with her smile still plastered on her face. "then that would explain why Hinata knows me again. But what about Sakura? Why doesn't she know me anymore? We just hung out last night, and what was with the 6 years thing?" Naruto was running a mile a minute.

As he went on, Naruto was suddenly stopped dead in his little rant. He tried to speak, only no sound came from his throat. "are you done? Good." Akki said smugly as she walked over to Naruto, "now, lets try that, a little more slowly. Okay?" Naruto had his hands on his throat, trying to say something.

Finally giving up, Naruto nodded in agreement to Akki.

Akki snapped her fingers, and Naruto felt as if someone had let go of a strong grip on him, "sorry, but it's hard to answer questions when they're coming at you a mile a minute. Now, what was your question?" Akki said with a calm and collected attitude.


	5. Chapter 5

_A TRADE_

_Chapter 5_

_What's Different_

Naruto gasped for air, after Akki snapped her fingers. Whatever that was, he didn't want to experience it again.

"Now, say what you said again," Akki said, "but this time, a little slower, kay?" the way she spoke sounded so innocent, but Naruto knew better, she was anything but.

Naruto took in a deep breath and spoke, "why doesn't Sakura remember me? We've been friends forever." Akki looked away as she spoke, she seemed intent on avoiding Naruto's gaze. "Well, your wish was that Hinata would remember you. So I kinda rewrote your past."

Naruto's eyes went wide, the way Akki said that, she made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. But this was a major deal to him. "What?!" he shouted, "What do you mean you rewrote my history?!" Akki had covered her ears, trying to save her eardrums from bursting. "Well, I figured it would be better this way." She said innocently, "I figured, I could rewrite it, so that Hinata had never left you. So that way, you two could have memories together and grow up together."

"As a result, you and Hinata started dating… but, that's where Sakura and Sasuke come in. you see, with you and Hinata together so often, you three drifted. Sasuke and Sakura started dating, and you just stopped being friends at around 13."

Naruto was simply shocked. He couldn't believe it, if Hinata had stayed, he wouldn't have been friends with either Sakura or Sasuke, "okay, that explains that. But why didn't you just make Hinata remember me?" he asked curiously. Akki began poking her fingers together and got embarrassed at the question. "Uh… well you see… altering people's minds isn't something I'm really good at." Naruto stared at her for a moment, unable to believe what he heard. "Let me get this straight. You can change history, but you can't cure amnesia?!" Akki began to stare at her own feet, before she nodded, she seemed embarrassed about this. "Well, I just never had to alter someone's mind before,"

"Wait! You said you've granted 999 wishes, yet you've never had to alter someone's mind doing it?" Naruto asked interrogatively, "well…" Akki started. "I may have… embellished on the number of wishes I'd granted…" Naruto got serious for a moment and glared at Akki, "how much did you embellish?" Akki began to shrink away from the question, "well… I-including you one wish… one wish."

Naruto grew wide-eyed, "ONE WISH?!" Akki had let out a small eek, in fear. "You're telling me, that my wish was the first wish you'd ever granted?!"

"Well if I'd told you that, you would have said no!" she whined "You're damn right! You have no idea what you're doing!" "That's not true!" Akki cried, "I was top of my class!"

Naruto rested his head in his palm and sighed deeply. "Wait! If you've never granted a wish, what were those wishes written throughout the book?" Naruto asked. "Oh, well, those wishes were granted by my mother." Akki said, "She was a great devil, she passed that book on to me, hoping that I'd fill as many pages as she did."

Naruto sighed. "So, Sakura and Sasuke aren't friends with me?" Akki shook her head, "sorry Naruto, like I said, it was the easiest way I knew." Naruto stayed sitting on the patient bed, staring at the ground.

Naruto, hopped off the bed and started towards the door, "oh well, at least now I won't have to worry about Sakura randomly showing up trying to cheer me up." He said, his voice seemed to struggle as he spoke. "And at least now I have Hinata… it's what I wanted…"

Naruto left the room, Akki didn't budge an inch.

Naruto felt he couldn't go through the day, he collected his things and left for the day. He figured that he would relax and let this all sink in.

------

Naruto sat in his living room, looking around the place. He realized when he got home that all of the pictures he had were different. The only picture that was the same still, was the one of him with Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata, from when they were younger.

The rest were pictures of himself and Hinata.

Kyuubi was still the same as ever, playful, hyper and hungry all the time.

Naruto felt something else. Something wrong. When he thought of Sasuke and Sakura, of the time they spent together, those memories were a little fuzzy. And yet, images of himself and Hinata, enjoying the beach. Dancing at parties, going out on dates. These thoughts were clear as day.

Naruto could kind of understand that, since Akki changed the past. His past. His memories were bound to be different.

These images were his memories, memories of this life.

Naruto just stayed sitting on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, not wanting to think, not wanting to do anything. Just sitting there. Until he heard a knock come from the front door.

Naruto didn't budge. He figured if he didn't answer it, whoever it was would just go away. Again, there was a knock at the door. After a moment passed, he heard a click and the door swung open.

Naruto sat up and saw Hinata, standing in the doorway, looking from side to side. "Oh Naruto! There you are!" she said as she strode over and sat beside Naruto, pulling him into a hug, "oh, where have you been?! You just disappeared after you left to the nurses office… are you feeling well?" Hinata seemed worried. Hinata lifted her bangs and pressed her forehead to Naruto's.

Naruto blushed at the touch of Hinata's skin against his own. "Oh, you're warm!" Hinata cried, she stood and pulled Naruto up from the couch. "Come on, you need to rest." She said as she pulled him into his bedroom and lay him down. "Now, you stay in that bed until you get better! Understand?" Hinata had a stern tone. Something told Naruto that she wouldn't change her mind about this.

Hinata sat at his bedside, "now, I want you to get some sleep, you look exhausted." Naruto simply nodded and did as she said, he was exhausted, worn out from everything that was happening today.

Naruto drifted off to sleep, with the feel of Hinata's hand pressed against his cheek

-----

The morning light shined through the window, waking Naruto from his rest. He groaned slightly, and turned over. Throwing his arms over the other side of his bed.

Though, he'd expected to feel his comforter, he hadn't expected it to be so lumpy. Naruto opened his eyes, and saw that his hand was lying on the comforter, and the comforter was lying over Hinata.

It took a minute for Naruto to realize what was what, but when he did, he ripped his arm back and practically leaped out of bed and to the opposite wall.

He was breathing heavily, in shock. Hinata was lying in his bed. IN HIS BED!

He thought for a minute, trying to figure out why. He sighed in relief when he recalled, "that's right. I made a deal with a devil to make Hinata remember me." He said.

"Wow, repeat that to anyone, and you might get yourself a nice padded room." Said a familiar voice.

Naruto turned around, and was shocked once again, to see Akki, standing in his doorway, she had a frying pan in her hand that was cooking something that was blackened, and looked like it was road kill only minutes before.

Though that wasn't what had shocked him. What _had_ shocked him was the fact that she was wearing an apron, and nothing more.

"You! What are you doing here?!" Naruto cried, though he quickly covered his mouth. He turned and looked at Hinata, who let out a sigh, and turned over. Like she hadn't noticed the screaming at all.

"Will you keep it down, you idiot? Like I said yesterday, I'm here to check up on you and your wish." Akki said, as she tip-toed and looked over Naruto's shoulder. Giggled slightly, "wow, she seems tired, what did you do to her?" Naruto's face went bright red at what she said. "We didn't…" be begun to shout, though covered his mouth again, and looked at Hinata, once again, she didn't notice a thing.

"We didn't do anything!" he whispered to Akki, "now will you take off that damn apron?!" Akki shrugged for a moment, and reached behind her neck, and untied the string holding the apron up.

Naruto's eyes went wide, as the strings fell over her shoulders. She reached back once again, to her back and pulled the knot, holding the apron to her. And it began to slide off.

Naruto grabbed the apron and held it over her. "What the hell are you doing?!" he cried, Akki giggled again, "I'm taking off the apron, like you asked." She said. She pulled both the apron and Naruto off of her.

Naruto covered his face, with the apron. "What are you doing?" Akki asked, as Naruto tried to keep his eyes covered. "You don't have to cover your eyes." She said, as she reached up and pulled the apron away.

Naruto kept his eyes shut tight, what was he supposed to do? There was a naked devil, in his hallway. And a sleeping Hinata in his bed.

Though he couldn't think about that, as he felt Akki's breath now, on his neck. "You can open your eyes Naruto," she whispered to him, "I don't mind." Naruto didn't want to, but something in him, desired it.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Akki was smirking, mischievously, as she leaned against the wall, though she wasn't how Naruto had expected her. She wasn't completely nude. Instead, she was wearing one of Naruto's shirts, which was buttoned up the front.

Naruto's surprise was clear on his face, and Akki stuck her tongue out at Naruto, playfully. "Yeah, right. Cuz a devil's gonna show herself naked to a mortal." Naruto sighed, he meant to feel relieved, though it sounded more frustrated than anything.

"Come on." Akki said, as she walked down the hall, and into the kitchen.

She placed the pan onto the stove so that it could continue to cook. Though it looked burnt and overcooked, by now.

She hopped onto the counter, swinging her legs. She looked like a normal little kid at the moment. Though Naruto knew better than to think that.

"So, what's the problem?" Akki asked.

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Well, I'm here, so you must have a problem with your wish. More questions and concerns?" she asked.

Naruto was reluctant to say anything, but again, he felt a strong desire to tell her what was on his mind. "I wanna know why my memories of Sasuke and Sakura, and everything else from before are fading." He said.

"Well…" Akki said, as she hopped off of the counter, "you seemed so upset about Sasuke and Sakura, not being your friends still, so I figured you'd be better off this way." Naruto glared at her slightly. "Why would you think I'd be better off this way?"

Akki sighed. "Look. I just figured if you didn't remember being friends with them you wouldn't care that you didn't hang out with them. After all, you wanted this to be with Hinata, isn't that right?"

Naruto stared down at t he ground for a minute. That was the truth, he'd wanted to be with Hinata again. But he didn't want to lose his best friends too. Was that really the price that he had to pay to be with her?

"I don't want to forget anything." He muttered, Akki sighed. "Look, I can't change that you and Hinata aren't friend with Sasuke and Sakura. But you can. So try and be friend with them again. If you don't then you have no reason to keep complaining." She said, bluntly.

Naruto knew that she was right. If losing Sasuke and Sakura's friendship was what it cost to be with Hinata, that didn't mean that he couldn't try and be friend with them all over again.

"But, to be honest. I think you'd be better off, forgetting." Akki said. Naruto looked up, to see that she was gone.

Naruto stood up and went to turn off the stove. Not wanting to smell whatever it was she was making burn.

He turned off the burners. Right when he did, Hinata walked into the kitchen. She was dressed in one of Naruto's long buttoned-up shirt. Naruto's eyes went wide, as he noticed it was the same one Akki had worn a moment before.

"Morning Naruto," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. She looked over to the stove and looked at the pan. "Oh, how sweet. You made breakfast." She said as she sniffed. Naruto turned back to the pan, and saw that whatever Akki had been making, had been replaced by a pan of cooked eggs.

"Well," Hinata said, as she kissed Naruto's cheek. "I'll just set the table, so we can have breakfast." Naruto nodded slightly, as she turned and went to set down a plate for herself and him. While he served the eggs.

Hinata smiled, as she helped herself to her breakfast, though Naruto was once again, reluctant towards this. But again, he felt something compel him to enjoy the breakfast.


End file.
